The present invention relates to a self-propelling processing machine.
More particularly, it relates to an agricultural harvesting machine which has a driven axle which receives front wheels, a removable supply device with a driver's cabin provided above the drive axle, with a horizontal entry platform located at an entry side and a step or ladder-shaped outlet. Such self-propelling processing machines include for example a harvester thresher with a cutting mechanism having a cutting width which is substantially greater than a permissible width of a vehicle allowed for the street transportation. It is therefore necessary to arrange the cutting mechanism removably on the inclined transporting passage of the harvester thresher by fast couplings, so that the driver can uncouple the cutting mechanism in a shortest possible time for a street transportation and to load the same on a suspending device designed for the transportation of the attachment. Because of the great cutting width of the harvester thresher, the width of the front wheels is also correspondingly great. The harvester thresher moreover is provided with twin wheels. Furthermore, the front wheels are spaced from one another by a distance which corresponds to the permissible width of a vehicle.
The outlet is located in such processing machines in the vicinity of the front wheel provided at the inlet side. The outlet must be formed so that the driver can reach its working place in the driver's cabin comfortably. For this purpose it must be guaranteed that the permissible width of the processing machine during the street transportation is not exceeded by the outlet. For this purpose it has been proposed to turn the outlet around a vertical axis located in the upper region so that during the output it is located laterally near the front wheel and during the travel is located in front or behind the front wheel. These solutions are disclosed in German patent documents DE-OS 15 80 314, DE-OS 25 31 890 and GM 19 66 425. This turnability is used to protect the output from damages in the ground. This solution has however the disadvantage that both the turning support as well as the output itself must be formed very stable to avoid high vibrations which can lead to material cracks and breakages. It is also necessary to secure the both possible rotary end positions of the outlet. This has been performed manually. If the driver forgets to secure the outlet or the locking mechanism does not operate orderly due to eventual dirt deposits, there is a substantial risk of malfunction.
It is further known to turn the outlet upwardly about an upper horizontal axis. This approach is disclosed in the German patent document DE-GM 19 91 880. However, the construction here is very complicated. Moreover, in such a construction the driver has to be apply a relatively high force for turning the output. It is also known to suspend the outlet on a rod system operating similar to a parallel guiding drive. In this construction the outlet can be displaced from a position laterally near the front wheel to a position located above the front wheel. This approach is disclosed in the German patent document DE-PS 16 57 019. In this embodiment the construction is also very complicated and expensive and the driver must displace the outlet.